A Hospital in Another World?-Chapter 881: The Army is Out of Money! The King is Bankrupt!

Duke Flamenco suddenly found that his days were getting difficult.

First, there were the supplies. Initially, the supplies from the rear were delivered very regularly: grain and forage every ten days, precious lightweight supplies every five days, and military orders and letters as soon as they arrived.

But now, the wine, ham, and oysters that should have arrived at the barracks were two days late. —Other things were fine, but if the oysters were stuck on the road, they would rot!

"What’s going on?" He sent a trusted aide to investigate. The aide rode hard for two whole days, sweating profusely when he came back to report:

"Your Grace, Duke Arden's territory has set up checkpoints along the way! They say the plague has been rampant lately, so people and goods must be strictly inspected. Anyone with illness or contaminated goods will be detained!"

Duke Flamenco: "..."

"Is this about checking for the plague? This is targeting me! Relay my orders: if they don’t open the checkpoints immediately, I will treat it as maliciously withholding military supplies and deal with them as rebels!"

The aide quickly rushed back to relay the message. Duke Flamenco poured himself a glass of three-year-old champagne, savored it with some ham, and then went out to soothe his subordinates:

"There’s a slight hiccup with the supply transport, please bear with it for a while. We’re out here fighting a war, it won’t be as well-stocked as a ball in the capital. Let’s all strive to overcome this..."

The noble lords complained bitterly. Duke Flamenco had to console, persuade, and promise, "When the supplies arrive, we'll have a banquet to relax properly," to finally calm everyone down.

Once he had dealt with them, he still had to visit the Grand Inquisitor: even though the clergy were austere, necessary supplies still had to be provided;

Just like they strictly adhered to the commandments and could not indulge in drinking, yet "wisdom water" in the guise of holy scriptures was indispensable...

The Duke's repeated urgings finally brought the first batch of supplies. However, the second batch of precious goods, including the grain and forage that should have arrived together, were...

"So why this time? Is Duke Arden still strictly checking for the plague?"

"He’s still checking, but the Duke has ordered the royal army’s convoy to be let through. However, however..."

"However, what?"

The Duke asked urgently. The aide shifted his weight uneasily:

"But in many places, to implement the order, barricades and chevaux-de-frise have been set up. Taking them down is very troublesome. In some places, they’ve simply dug up roads or dismantled bridges..."

Duke Flamenco's vision darkened. Digging up roads and dismantling bridges to block traffic might be something light cavalry could navigate, but heavy-loaded grain carts...

"Forget it, I'll write him another letter..."

Duke Flamenco sighed deeply. After all, Duke Arden was a powerful duke with a vast territory, ranking higher than him among the nobles, and he really could ignore him.

Writing a letter had some effect; the grain arrived in a halting manner. However, with the grain came more bad news:

"Grand Duchess Alva ordered strict checks: everyone entering the territory must be quarantined for seven days to ensure they’re free of typhoid before they can move freely!"

"Earl Anjou ordered that all outsiders entering the territory must obtain a 'plague-free' certificate from the local church within a day. Otherwise, no carriage rides, no boat trips, no lodging in inns, no entry into any public places!"

"Upper Lorraine Duke..." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Lower Lorraine Duke..."

One bad news after another left Duke Flamenco dizzy, almost wanting to spit blood:

"These central nobles, are they planning a rebellion?"

Whether the central great nobles of Brolin were planning a rebellion was something to be dealt with later before the King, or even before the Radiant Church, in a fierce debate. But what lay before Duke Flamenco was the stark reality:

There was no grain!

There was no pay!

Grain could be forcibly collected by sending out troops to loot every granary and pry open every cellar. After all, grain is heavy and hard to move; those Nedland peasants couldn’t possibly transport all their grain away;

Military pay was another matter. In any era, merchants ran faster than farmers, and the rich fled quicker than the poor. While farmers were still digging caves to hide their last sack of grain, the merchants...

Had long since fled, gone a hundred years ago.

Merchants, who often traveled around for business, would pack their valuables and leave wherever they could!

By the time Duke Flamenco thought of raiding shops, workshops, and factories for gold coins—

"Sorry, this is property of Bishop So-and-So."

"Sorry, this workshop has been donated to the So-and-So monastery."

"Sorry, this factory produces vestments and tapestries for worshipping the Radiant Lord. Are you sure... you want to shut it down if you can’t pay 100 gold coins in three days?"

"Merchants are the craftiest!" Duke Flamenco gnashed his teeth. No wonder the scriptures say it’s harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of the Lord than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle...

So crafty, so miserly, they deserve to go to hell after death!

No, even while they’re alive, if he caught them, he’d have them all tied to the stake!

The Duke cursed fiercely, cursed fiercely. After cursing, he still had to figure out a way to raise funds for these soldiers:

There was no choice; without military pay, they would refuse to work! Not only refuse, they might desert, no, they might start looting nearby cities and villages in the name of self-funding...

That would be bad enough, but they could also mutiny!

They really dared to mutiny!

Even with the Inquisition’s Black Knights nearby, the King’s army dared to mutiny, can you believe it? Oh, the Black Knights of the Inquisition didn’t openly mutiny, but they also quietly stopped working...

The Duke tried both coaxing and beating. He hanged a few, consoled many more, promised to make up the military pay as soon as possible. Yes, make it up, with interest!

He wrote letters urgently, requesting military pay from the King. No response to the first letter, no response to the second, after seven or eight letters, he finally got a message from the King:

No money.

The royal family had no money, the treasury had no money, government bonds couldn’t be sold, merchants refused to lend money; in short, there was no money.

The country was already in a severe financial crisis. The King hoped Duke Flamenco would understand the difficult situation, take care of himself, and not add to the King's burden...

"Is the King declaring bankruptcy?" The Duke held the letter with both hands. This great knight who could wield a giant sword, shatter mountains and rocks, now trembled holding a thin roll of parchment:

"Can the King, the state, declare bankruptcy?"

"Not officially bankrupt yet." His secretary adjusted his tortoiseshell glasses solemnly:

"However, the King has defaulted once, his wedding supposedly cost twenty years of tax revenue. In business terms, this would be 'extremely low credit rating.' Generally speaking, merchants won’t lend him money anymore."

The Duke: "..."

He belatedly remembered an old saying: don’t wait until the last leaf falls to know winter has come.

Had he known the King would be so shameless, when the King first refused to pay Nedland's national debt, he should have anticipated today’s outcome.

If he could avoid paying that debt, he could naturally avoid paying military pay here...

Had he not wanted to add a fief for his family, he wouldn’t have ended the western campaign and brought back twenty thousand troops! Now, he had returned and stepped into a quagmire!

The Duke swallowed the blood rising to his throat. Lowering his pride, he continued to write letters:

To family members, relatives, bishops of various churches, priests, central nobles led by Duke Arden, wealthy merchants in noble territories...

Borrow money!

Borrow without collateral if possible, if not, mortgage loans, if that doesn’t work, sell all his gold and silver, all valuables, sell everything that could be sold!

Silver helmets and gold necklaces seized in battles against barbarians;

Sets of gold pots and cups seized in the west;

A gold crown in New World style given by the King;

Trophies from the Nedland battlefield, full sets of armor, weapons, and fine horses...

One by one, they left their owner, flowing into unknown hands. Soon, the Duke’s tent looked like it had been washed by a flood or looted clean.

In exchange for the clinking of gold and silver coins, he paid the knights and their retainers, warriors, buying their temporary obedience.

But, the time bought with gold coins was limited. One month, two months...

Duke Flamenco’s reputation and treasures finally ran out. Facing another mutiny threat, he desperately stormed into the Inquisition camp, rushing to Grand Inquisitor Gravira:

"I need money! I need money! I can’t find a single penny, can’t expect the King to send money here! I can’t borrow a penny! No one has any credit left, no one!"

Grand Inquisitor Gravira slowly stood up. Before he could answer, Duke Flamenco continued to roar:

"If no miracle happens, the whole army will collapse in a blink! In a blink! From the moment I noticed something

wrong and left my tent, before reaching you, the whole army will be done for! Finished!"

"In that case, let's launch another major battle." Grand Inquisitor Gravira slowly responded. The Duke was stunned:

"What?"

"Launch another major battle." The Grand Inquisitor's voice was firm. His grey eyes showed no ripple, like a piece of hard ice, looking into the distance:

"Crush the rebels' army, capture that city of sinners. Tell the soldiers, once Nedland City is taken, everything there will be theirs."

Duke Flamenco suddenly felt his heart beating rapidly. He opened his mouth, tried twice, and finally, with a dry throat, managed to speak:

"What about the people in that city..."

"Then the Lord rained down brimstone and fire from the sky on that city." The Grand Inquisitor recited expressionlessly:

"Destroyed those cities and all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. —Your Grace, do you have any other questions?"

No questions, and dared not have any more questions. Duke Flamenco bowed deeply and silently withdrew. Before he returned to his camp, he heard thunderous cheers from the camp.

The army broke camp and marched in great numbers. Such an obvious move did not escape the watchers' eyes. The Parliament’s reaction was—

"The pawn in Ostend can finally be moved."

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